Water ski



JURY 10, 1951 LUNDBQRG 2,559,977

WATER SKI Filed March 11, 1949 Patented July 10, 1951 UNITED STATES f PATENT QFFICE WATER SKI Gustav L. Lunclborg, N orristown, Pa.

Application March 11, 1949, Serial No. 80,895

2 Claims. (Cl. 9-21) This invention relates to a novel construction of buoyant water ski for use in supporting a person on the Water and which is adapted to be used in pairs, one applied to each foot, for supporting the user in a standing position thereon and for movement on the water in a gliding movement, propelled by poling or by operation of the legs for displacing the skis forwardly, similar to the movement of skis over a snow covered surface.

More particularly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a water ski which will afford amusement and exercise for the user and which can be economically manufactured and sold and capable of being efficiently utilized for accomplishing its intended purpose.

A further object of the invention is to provide a water ski including an inflatable casing for rendering the ski sufficiently buoyant to support the weight of an adult.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the water ski;

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 55 of Figure 1, and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the ski frame.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the water ski in its entirety is designated generally 1 and includes a frame, designated generally 8 and best illustrated in Figure 6. The frame 8 may be formed of light weight substantially rigid metal or may be formed of other materials such as plastic and includes corresponding longitudinally extending rods 9 and II! which are laterally spaced from one another and which form the top portion of the frame. The rods 9 and Iii have upwardly and inwardly curved forward end portions II and I2, respectively, which join at the forward terminals of the'rods 9 and I9 and which may be secured together in any suitable manner at this point. The rods 9 and Hi are also provided with corresponding downwardly and in wardly inclined rear end portions I3 and I4, respectively, and said rear terminals of the rods 9 and ID are likewise suitably joined together and are secured in any suitable manner to the rear end of a lower rod I5 which constitutes the keel portion of the frame 8. The point of connection of the rod portions I3 and I4 and the rear end of the keel rod I5 is designated I6 and constitutes the stern or trailing end of the ski frame 8. As best seen in Figure 5, the keel rod I5 is 7 equally spaced from the rods 9 and I0 and since it is disposed therebeneath is disposed centrally with respect thereto and in vertical alignment with the axis of the frame 8. The keel rod I5 is provided with an upwardly curved forward end portion I I which merges with and is joined to the forward end of the rod portions II and I2 at the bow or forward end I8 of the frame 8. The frame 8 also includes a plurality of T-shaped braces, two of which are illustrated in the embodiment of the invention as disclosed, and which are designated I9 and 20 and which are identical in construction. A forward T-shaped braced I9 is disposed adjacent the rod portions I I, I2 and I1 and has its upper cross member 2I extending between and suitably secured at its ends to corresponding portions of the rods 9 and Ill and its centrally disposed upright part 22 which is fixed to and depends from the intermediate portion of the cross member 2| is secured at its lower end in any suitable manner to the keel rod I5. The rear T-shaped brace 20 is similarly secured to the rods 9, I0 and I5 adjacent the upper, forward ends of the rod portions I3 and I4 and it will be readily apparent that additional, corresponding T-shaped braces could be provided if necessary or desirable.

The ski I also includes an airtight, inflatable casing, designated generally 23, which is stretched over the frame 8 and which is preferably formed of rubber or which may be formed of other airtight material. The casing 23 may be constructed and secured to the frame 8 in various ways but as illustrated preferably includes an elongated strip 24 having tapered end portions, the longitudinal edges of which are secured around and vulcanized to the rods 9 and I0 including the portions II, I2, I3 and I 4 thereof, as best illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. The longitudinal intermediate portion of the strip 24 is stretched. around the keel rod I5, from end-to-end thereof, as best seen in Figure 3 so that the casing member 23 provides downwardly converging corresponding side walls 25 constituting the side walls of the edge portions of which, as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, are curved downwardly around and vulcanized to the side edge portions of the strip 24 which are secured to the rods 9 and [0. The strip 26 is provided with a tapered forward end 21 to conform to the taper of the upper surface of the forward end of the frame 8 and has a tapered trailing end 28 which conforms to the shape of the upper surface of the stern portion of the frame as defined by the rod portions l3 and I4.

A conventional type of inflating valve 29 is provided in the casing 23 and is preferably but not necessarily located in the casing portion 21.

A substantially rigid plate 30 is suitably secured to the top surface 26 of the ski 1 and rests on and is supported by portions of the frame members 9 and II] to provide a foot rest, as illustrated in Figure 1, and has cross straps 3| which are fastened at their ends thereto to provide a foot retaining means for retaining the foot detachably in position on the rigid plate 30.

It will be readily understood that the water skis I are used in pairs and that a pair of the skis of identical construction are employed, one for supporting each foot of the user. The skis I are of sufficient size and air capacity when infiated to readily support an adult in a standing position when the skis are afloat and as previously mentioned the user may propel himself or herself by leg movement advancing the skis alternately similar to a well known means of propelling conventional snow skis or the skis I may be propelled to cause them to glide through the water by the use of poles and in an operation similar to the use of conventional ski poles. For propelling the skis by poles, a specially constructed water ski pole is primarily intended for use and which is illustrated in my co-pending application Serial No. 80,894, filed March 11, 1949, and by means of which the skis may be propelled by a poling operation in water of any depth, as fully described in said co-pending application.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A buoyant water ski comprising an elongated skeleton frame including transversely spaced longitudinally extending top frame members and a longitudinally extending bottom frame member forming a keel, said keel being equally spaced from the top frame members and having an upwardly curved forward end, said top frame mem bers having upwardly curved converging forward ends secured at their terminals to the forward end of the keel and constituting the bow end of the frame, said top frame members having downwardly converging rear end portions merging with and secured to the rear end of the keel and constituting the stern of the frame; and an airtight casing of an inflatable material disposed over and vulcanized to portions of said frame and provided with an inflating valve.

2. A ski as in claim 1, said frame being provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced substantially T-shaped braces, end portions of each of said braces being secured to each of the top frame members and the keel.

GUSTAV L. LUNDBORG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,275,727 Niec Aug. 13, 1918 1,628,368 Lease May 10, 1927 1,719,059 Krupka et a1. July 2, 1929 2,052,240 Min Aug. 25, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 558,815 Germany Sept. 13, 1932 

